This is a mind-boggling development for fans of college football. McGloin was a walk-on at Penn State who co-starred with four-star recruit Rob Bolden in one of the least-competent quarterback battles in recent memory. In 2010 and 2011, the duo seemingly alternated every other week, which was about how long it took for one of them to lose the job. Among the 90 quarterbacks who threw for at least 3,000 yards over that two-year period, McGloin ranked 87th in completion percentage. Then, Bill O’Brien arrived, and McGloin turned into a real quarterback, and led the Big 10 in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
McGloin joins Tuel, Max Hall, and Matt Moore as the only undrafted free agent rookies to start a game at quarterback in the last ten years. The table below is a bit overinclusive: it includes all undrafted quarterbacks who started a game during the first season in which they played a game. That’s not quite the same thing as starting as a rookie, of course, but it’s the best I can do. Brock Berlin, for example, went undrafted in 2005, so he wouldn’t count, but he appears on the list below. To help you filter through the “sat around for a few years but didn’t get into a game/played in another league” issue, I’ve included an age column.
Quarterback | Year | Team | Age | Record | College |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jeff Tuel | 2013 | BUF | 22 | 0-1 | Washington St. |
Max Hall | 2010 | ARI | 25 | 1-2 | BYU |
Matt Moore | 2007 | CAR | 23 | 2-1 | UCLA; Oregon State |
Brock Berlin | 2007 | STL | 26 | 0-1 | Florida; Miami (FL) |
Chad Hutchinson | 2002 | DAL | 25 | 2-7 | Stanford |
Henry Burris | 2002 | CHI | 27 | 0-1 | Temple |
Todd Bouman | 2001 | MIN | 29 | 1-2 | St. Cloud State |
Anthony Wright | 2000 | DAL | 24 | 0-2 | South Carolina |
Doug Johnson | 2000 | ATL | 23 | 0-2 | Florida |
Jake Delhomme | 1999 | NOR | 24 | 1-1 | La-Lafayette |
Jeff Garcia | 1999 | SFO | 29 | 2-8 | Gavilan J.C.; San Jose State |
Jon Kitna | 1997 | SEA | 25 | 1-0 | Central Washington |
Kelly Holcomb | 1997 | IND | 24 | 0-1 | Middle Tennessee State |
Jason Garrett | 1993 | DAL | 27 | 1-0 | Princeton; Columbia |
Brad Goebel | 1991 | PHI | 24 | 0-2 | Baylor |
Erik Kramer | 1987 | ATL | 23 | 1-1 | Pierce J.C. ; North Carolina State |
John Fourcade | 1987 | NOR | 27 | 2-1 | Mississippi |
Adrian Breen | 1987 | CIN | 22 | 0-1 | Morehead State |
Rick Neuheisel | 1987 | SDG | 26 | 2-0 | UCLA |
Ken Karcher | 1987 | DEN | 24 | 2-1 | Delgado CC; Notre Dame; Tulane |
Todd Hons | 1987 | DET | 26 | 1-2 | El Camino J.C.; Arizona State |
Bob Bleier | 1987 | NWE | 23 | 1-1 | Richmond |
Mike Hohensee | 1987 | CHI | 26 | 2-0 | Mount San Antonio J.C.; Minnesota |
Matt Stevens | 1987 | KAN | 23 | 0-2 | UCLA |
Ed Rubbert | 1987 | WAS | 23 | 3-0 | Louisville |
Shawn Halloran | 1987 | STL | 23 | 1-1 | Boston College |
Jim Crocicchia | 1987 | NYG | 23 | 0-1 | Pennsylvania |
Jeff Van Raaphorst | 1987 | ATL | 24 | 0-1 | Arizona State |
Scott Tinsley | 1987 | PHI | 28 | 0-2 | USC |
Willie Totten | 1987 | BUF | 25 | 0-1 | Mississippi Valley State |
Mike Busch | 1987 | NYG | 25 | 0-1 | Idaho State; South Dakota State |
Bobby Hebert | 1985 | NOR | 25 | 2-4 | Northwestern State (LA) |
Dieter Brock | 1985 | RAM | 34 | 12-5 | Jacksonville State; Auburn |
Warren Moon | 1984 | HOU | 28 | 3-13 | Washington |
Mike Loyd | 1980 | STL | 24 | 0-1 | Kansas; Tulsa; Missouri Southern State |
Joe Pisarcik | 1977 | NYG | 25 | 4-7 | New Mexico State |
Terry Luck | 1977 | CLE | 25 | 0-1 | Nebraska |
Jim Zorn | 1976 | SEA | 23 | 2-12 | Cal Poly-Pomona |
Don Milan | 1975 | GNB | 26 | 0-1 | Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo |
Will Cureton | 1975 | CLE | 25 | 0-1 | Texas A&M-Commerce |
J.J. Jones | 1975 | NYJ | 23 | 0-1 | Fisk |
Larry Lawrence | 1974 | OAK | 25 | 1-0 | Iowa; Miami (FL) |
Bill Demory | 1973 | NYJ | 23 | 1-2 | Arizona |
Rick Arrington | 1970 | PHI | 23 | 0-1 | Georgia; Tulsa |
Don Gault | 1970 | CLE | 24 | 1-0 | Hofstra |
Sam Wyche | 1968 | CIN | 23 | 1-2 | Furman |
Tom Sherman | 1968 | BOS | 23 | 1-6 | Penn State |
Kent Nix | 1967 | PIT | 23 | 3-6 | TCU |
John Stofa | 1966 | MIA | 24 | 1-0 | Buffalo |
Max Choboian | 1966 | DEN | 24 | 3-4 | Oregon; Cal State-Northridge |
Tom Kennedy | 1966 | NYG | 27 | 0-1 | Glendale CC (CA); Los Angeles State |
Don Breaux | 1963 | DEN | 23 | 0-2 | McNeese State |
Sam Etcheverry | 1961 | STL | 31 | 4-5 | Denver |
Tom Flores | 1960 | OAK | 23 | 5-7 | Fresno City J.C.; Pacific |
Hunter Enis | 1960 | DTX | 24 | 1-0 | TCU |
Tom Greene | 1960 | BOS | 22 | 1-1 | Holy Cross |
Total |
McGloin is the third Nittany Lion on the list. Tom Sherman led PSU to the Gator Bowl in 1967, and then replaced Mike Taliaferro as the Patriots starting quarterback over the final seven games of the year in 1968.